A 29-year-old female occupant of this residence in Ball Ground heard an explosion and discovered smoke and flames. Thankfully, there were no injuries after the woman rescued both her seven-month-old daughter and family pet. Because of the quick response of Station 2 of the Cherokee County Fire Department located in Ball Ground, the flames were contained to a rear corner of this 108-year-old one-story wooden structure located at 155 Depot Street.

By Larry Cavender

Contributing writer

A home purported to be over 100 years old was damaged by a fire last Friday afternoon, March 23rd. No one was injured in the blaze which occurred at 155 Depot Street in Ball Ground.

According to a statement released by the Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, "The 29-year-old female occupant of the home...heard an explosion and went to the back of the house to investigate and saw smoke and flames."

She immediately retrieved her seven -month-old daughter, exited the house, gave the infant to a neighbor, and returned to the burning structure to rescue the family dog. The family who occupied the house also included the father and a sixteen year old son who were not home at the time of the fire.

The statement continued, "Firefighters were dispatched around 2:45 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find smoke and flames coming from one of the back corners of the house."

Firefighters on the scene reported, "The back corner of the house received significant damage while the remainder of the structure had some smoke and water damage." The cause of the fire has not been determined at this time and is under investigation.

The press release also said, "The landlord stated that he believed the one-story wooden home was built around 1910."

Children recovering after Franklin Gold- Mine Road home fire

Fire and Emergency Services officials have released an updated status report on the eight members of the Arnold family injured in a residential fire two weeks ago on Franklin Goldmine Road. The two most seriously injured were an eight-year-old boy and an eighteen-month-old male infant. The eldest remains in stable condition with plans for him to be transported to Eggleston Children's Hospital from the Grady Burn Center in Atlanta.

The infant remains at the Grady Burn Center in stable condition after undergoing several skin-graft surgeries. The other six members of the family injured in the blaze have been released from their respective hospitals.